Could Bram Stoker ever have imagined, back in 1897, that the character he created would one day be used for everything from pornography to breakfast cereal? It's hard to imagine that even Bela Lugosi could have guessed that the accent he gave Dracula would still be in use, more than 80 years later, spoofed by George Hamilton, or teaching kids to count, or marketing everything from car insurance to debt-consolidation loans ("because debt sucks!") to throat lozenges. Thus Dracula Untold, the title of the Drac movie that opened this past weekend, seems almost impertinent. Can there be a variation on the Dracula tale left untold?

Here are 18 strong contenders for the most peculiar takes on Count Dracula in popular culture. Note: These aren't just vampires in the Dracula mode; all of them had, at minimum, to have either the title "Count" or the prefix "Drac-" or the suffix "-ula" somewhere in their name.

When I first saw the trailer for Automata, I assumed that it was a big-budget studio release that I'd just somehow missed out on hearing about. It stars Antonio Banderas, and it has top-notch special effects and a fully realized future world. But no - this is a scrappy indie from a first-time feature director, and is probably too weird and brooding for a studio, which is a good thing. Like a kinder, gentler, Blade Runner, it has Banderas going around fixing rogue robots rather than killing them...but it's all against the backdrop of humanity gradually going extinct.

I spoke to Ibanez on the phone during Fantastic Fest. As he is a fast-talker with a thick accent, I cannot vouch for every single word, but I'm pretty sure it's essentially all there.

That's one of the major takeaways from Jamie Anderson's Kickstarter pitch video - he will build puppets and sets, and he will blow them up for your enjoyment.

It worked - Firestorm has only been on Kickstarter a couple of days, and it's already fully funded. Originally conceived as a puppet show but sold as the anime series Storm Force in 2003, this Firestorm will be returning to its roots and terrifying a new generation of kids with those weird marionettes that always creeped me the hell out. I mean, people talk about "uncanny valley" in CG, but marionettes had dead eyes from day one.

Here are some other stories you might have missed, if not for the compiling assistance of Kyle LeClair and the tipster powers of Patch999, Gallen_Dugall, SlyDante777, skrag2112, RegularStormy, Rx79immigrant84, troi. Also, I'm experimenting with titles other than Weekend Hangover, just to see if they get better traction. Feeling like maybe positioning this as a kickoff rather than leftover might be more pro-active. We'll see.

Oh hai audience! I am Amurrican director. I make typical Amurrican horror film about how normal people like you and me use sewing machine and buy dolls, haha. We are all so normal! But sometimes when people espress themselves they hurt each udder, and the doll become the Satan. Anyway, how's your sex life?

If I didn't happen to personally know director John Leonetti, I would assume that the above was his mission statement, and his name a pseudonym for Tommy Wiseau. "Leo," in fact, is a great cinematographer, and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. But when it comes to directing, let's just say that the best-case scenario for Annabelle is that drag queens embrace it as a midnight show to yell at.

Can you beat a sentient Garfield banana? We'll give it a try, with these amusing tidbits culled form your weekend submissions and collected with the help of Kyle LeClair. Tipsters this week include kegs, donnaryoko, rkwsuperstar, Dr.Gonzo82, Anyone00, Gallen_Dugall, clashctyrkr, Rx79immigrant84, SlyDante777

One of the reasons Topless Robot exists is because it fills a niche not always covered by our various sister publications in the Voice Media chain. But sometimes, just sometimes, we like to think we've inspired them.

Not necessarily to be better people, mind you. Just inspired. And we couldn't be prouder of Tatiana Craine and Todd Wardrope over at our Minneapolis sibling-site City Pages - they covered the Furry Migration convention like champs. I never before realized that there were "spiritual aspects" to Furries.

Cookie Monster is Flan Solo. Only-One Cannoli tells him to "Use the Four," i.e. count to four. And best of all, it sounds like Frank Oz is Grover as Yoda, in what may be the show's most meta-moment ever. It's "Star S'Mores"!

Remember when Kevin Smith movies argued that Return of the Jedi was just a bunch of Muppets? This one most assuredly is...and proud of it.